Case study: Refreshing communications policy and procedures for a nonprofit in transition
Turning ad hoc habits into a documented system built for a new strategic direction.
As a national funder network embarked on a new chapter, the organization recognized an opportunity to align its communications infrastructure with its evolving strategic goals. The team aimed to transition toward more formal, documented systems for planning and approvals to enhance cross-departmental collaboration. By establishing clear, written guidance, the communications team sought to increase efficiency and dedicate more focus to proactive, strategic initiatives.
I worked with the team at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations in three phases over about ten weeks. In discovery, I conducted key informant interviews with staff across the org, reviewed existing communications materials and workflows, and gathered best practices from comparable organizations to map the gap between current habits and the team's 'ideal' communications culture. From there, I drafted a new Communications Policy and Procedures Kit covering roles and responsibilities, branding guidelines, content development and review processes, and media and social media policy, along with supporting templates and workflows to support planning and collaboration.
The result was a documented communications system the team can put into practice, along with a memo identifying where to invest next as the organization's communications capacity continued to grow.